Chapter 20
Dinah POV
"Mommy when are they going to call my name?" Ashley says as she looks up at me as I look down at her. "In a few minutes ofa." I say to her. "Ashley Y/LN?" Her therapist, Bernice , calls out. "I'll be right back." Ashley says as she gets up and walks to Bernice. Once they walk down the hall and they're in the clear I walk up to the receptionist. "How can I help you out Ms. Hansen?" She says. "I have an appointment for myself for December 5th I believe." She types away on the computer. "Ah. Yes, December 5th at 2:30pm with Kiara." "Is there an earlier date or time that I can come on? I have a flight that day." "Give me one second." She starts typing and clicking the mouse. "So she has an opening the day before at 6:30pm. Does that work?" "That's perfect." "Are you going to make this appointment? You missed the last four." She says.
"Yes I am. I think my girlfriend is catching onto the fact that I haven't." I say. "She definitely did because she calls me everyday your appointment is set to see if you came." I hear a voice behind me say. I turn around and see a gorgeous woman behind me. "Hi, I'm Kiara. I'm Y/N's therapist and hopefully soon to be yours." She says as she puts her hand out and I shake it. "Hi I'm Dinah Jane." "You took Ashley to her appointment?" She asks. I nod my head. "She's in great hands. Bernice is amazing. She loves working with Ashley." She says. "She talks about her clients?" I ask skeptically. "Well I own the company and building. I like to keep tabs on all the clients that come in here. You know just in case I have to contact any authorities for any reasons. I just do check ins and ask how the appointment went." Kiara says and I nod my head.
"Can I talk to you in my office for a second?" She asks me and I nod my head. I follow her down a hallway into an office. "You can take a seat." I sit down on the long couch as she sits in an office chair. "So, Y/N has told me the reason on why she wants you to come into therapy and I want to say I totally agree. I know you may not be ready to talk, she gave a small brief of what went on and everything. I've been where you once was. What I can say off of experience is that if you don't talk about it now you will never want to talk about it. In order for you to move on you have to accept the fact that it happened and address everything that happened. It's tough at first, it is. I promise you once you start talking about it, it'll get better." Kiara says sincerely as she looks at me.
"It's hard. Sometimes I'm scared to talk about it, even with Y/N. I just don't want to relive it." I say. "It's harder to speak about what I've experienced in that relationship because it's something that I don't want to go through again. I'm mad at myself for allowing it to even happen." "Nobody ever wants to relive their pain. It was when you was most vulnerable. Did you ever try to fight back?" Kiara says as she looks at me. "At first, I did. The first time was the less painful time than the rest. I remember it was about something so stupid. It was after I met his parents. He got mad at me because I didn't want to stay in a 'woman's place' and help his mom wash the dishes after we got done eating dinner." She raises her eyebrows and widens her eyes.
"What happened?"
F L A S H B A C K
I reach over the console to grab his hand as he's driving and he puts it on the wheel. "Whats wrong?" I ask him. He let's out a deep and annoyed sigh out. "Why didn't you help my mother with the dishes?" I throw my neck back a little and look at him taken back. "When I did offer to help her out she told me that I didn't have to and kicked me out the kitchen." I tell him. I know he can not be serious right now. "You shouldn't have let my mom wash the dishes. She cooked so you should've done the dishes." "Odell, I tried to do the dishes! She told me not to! Who am I to tell a grown woman what to and not to do in her own house?" I yell at him. "Watch you're tone when you're talking to me." He says through gritted teeth as his grip on the wheel tightens.
"Watch my tone? Who are you my dad?" He takes his right hand off of the wheel and grabs my left thigh and tightens his grip on it making me wince. "Stay in a woman's place and do the dishes next time." I wince in pain and use my right hand to claw his hand with my acrylics. He hisses and pulls away. "I don't know what you thought this was, but you're not going to be putting your hands on me. I don't tolerate that. If you think that I'm going to put up with that then this our last time even being together." I say.
My head quickly turns the other way when the back of his hand comes in contact with my cheek. "I told you to watch your tone. You got too much of a smart mouth. Just do as I say and I won't have to do that again." He says as he continues to look at the road.
F L A S H B A C K O V E R
"I didn't want to stick around but he apologized. He promised he wouldn't do it again. I just should've just known that I should've walked away." I say. "Besides the fact of you knowing he shouldn't have put his hands on you, what else made you realized that you should've walked away?" Kiara says. I stare off for a second and images and clips of me and Y/N play in my head instantly. "The fact that it just happened so random and over something so stupid. I should've known that, that would've been all it would take for him to hit me." I say. "Are you sure it was just that? Are you sure it wasn't because of you and Y/N's relationship?" Kiara asks. "Why would you think that?" I ask.
"You and Y/N was together for how long before you guys broke up?" "Almost 3 years." I say. "Was it perfect?" I shake my head. "We used to argue a lot somewhat." "What do you mean by somewhat?" She asks. "We used to argue about things that mattered I would say. We argued about her first child's mother, Melanie, when I was in Fifth Harmony and they had us living together she came over with her and nobody knew who she was. We weren't really talking at the time either so Melanie being there made it more difficult." I say as I shake my head. "That argument was my fault anyways. I told her she didn't care about Cheylise because she was smoking weed outside. She just didn't know Chey was going to go outside. So we argued which led to us not really speaking for days. She would just drop Chey off at the house and leave and pick her up at night."
Kiara looks at me with shock written on her face. I nod my head. "Every argument lead to you guys not talking for days?" I nod my head. "Why wouldn't you guys talk?" I shrug my shoulders. "We we're both too stubborn I guess. Everybody always had to talk us into talking to each other. The only time we didn't need someone would be the day of the wedding." She nods her head and grabs a note pad and writes it down. "I'm sorry this turned into a session, I was trying to figure out why you have been cancelling and rescheduling all of your appointments. Sometimes I start to do my job without even realizing it. You can still come in on the fourth. This will be at no cost of Ms.Y/LN." Kiara says as she starts to ramble on. "It's fine. I honestly was really just scared. Now I see why Y/N loves talking to you. You don't make it seem like you're in a session. You ask a lot of questions though. Ones that makes you think." I say and she laughs.
"I hate being the stereotypical therapist. I'm not writing notes in front of people much. It makes it seem like you don't really care. I do care and I do want to see everyone healthier mentally. I also love my clients so it makes me love my job." She says sincerely with a smile. "Ashley should be done with her session and I should have a client coming in." She says as she gets up and so do I. She leads me to the door and opens it for me and I walk past her saying thank you and stopping in the hall. She closes the door and we walk down the hallway. "Mommy I thought you left me." Ashley says as she runs to me and hugs my torso. I wrap my arms around her and rub my hand up and down her back comfortably. "No I went to go talk to Ms. Kiara while you was talking to Bernice" I say and look over at Bernice. "She did good today. She has an assignment that I'm having her do until when she comes back next Friday." I nod my head. "Okay I'll let her aunt know. She's the one that's going to be bringing her next Friday. Either her or Ayana. Me and Y/N will be out of town by then." Bernice nods her head.
"That's fine. Thank you for letting me know. Remember what I said Ashley. Just talk okay?" "Okay Ms. Bernice, I will. Mommy can we talk in the car?" I nod my head as she grabs my hand. "Say goodbye baby." "Bye Ms. Bernice and Ms. Kiara. You look pretty today Ms. Kiara." She says with a smile. "Awe thank you sweetheart. You look very pretty today too. I love your hairstyle."
"Thank you. Yaya did my hair." "She did a very good job." Kiara says as she waves. "Thank you. Kiara I'll see you on the fourth. Have a good day." I say as I wave to the both of them and they wave back.
Ashley and I walk out of the building. "Do you have any plans today Ms. Ashley or do you want to hang out with me for the day?" "Can I hang out with you?" She asks. "Of course. We have to stop by a couple of stores to get some clothes for the twins, then we have to go to a bakery for you and your sisters cakes, then talk to a party planner and then go grocery shopping." I say telling her all the plans for the day. Thank god I don't have to drop her off at home. "Mommy can we get ice cream at the store?" She asks. "We have popsicles at the house." "I don't want popsicles. Y/N says those are for the twins." I shake my head. "Then yes we can get ice cream and you can pick which ones too." I say. Once we reach the G-Wagon Y/N got me and I unlock the doors and open the back door for Ashley. Once she gets in and puts her seatbelt on I close the door.
I walk to the drivers side and get in and put my seatbelt on and close the door and start the car. My phone automatically connects and I turn the volume down a little. I shift gears and head towards the bakery. "Ashley, what did you want to talk to me about?" I look at her through the mirror and see her looking nervous and playing with her fingers, just like her sister. I swear she's a calmer version of her sister but she looks exactly like their mother. "Are you mad that I call you mommy?" She says barely above a whisper. "No Ash. I told you I was okay with you calling me mommy. Why do you ask?" I look back at her and see her starting to cry. I pull over and park the car on the side of the road and turn to look at her.
"What's wrong Ashley?" "The kids at school make fun of me because i call you mommy. They said that you're not my real mommy. They kept making jokes about mommy being dead." She says as she lets out a sob after she finishes. I reach back and take her seatbelt off and pull her to the front on my lap. I hug her as she cries onto my shirt. I rub her back comfortably and kiss the top of her head. Kids these days are so nasty. Who makes jokes about someone's dead mother? "Hey, " she pulls back from me and looks at me. "I will always be your mommy for however long you want me to. I don't care if I'm not your real mommy. If you consider me your mommy then I am. Don't listen to those kids. They're just mad because they don't have two mommies. You're special so you get two. Only special people get to have two mommies. Did you tell your teacher what they have been saying?" She nods her head. "I did and she didn't do nothing. She didn't even yell at them. She just said don't listen to them, but they say it everyday. They call me No Parent Ashley." She says and it breaks my heart. "How would you feel if we changed your school?" I ask her. She nods her head fast. "I don't want to be there anymore."
"Okay. We'll go and talk to the principal and you don't have to go to school and you can stay with Tia Sammie until we can get you into another school. How does that sound?" I ask her and she nods her head. "Do you want me to tell your sister?" "Can you tell her now please?" I nod my head. "You want to ride in the front so you don't have to climb in the back?" She nods her head and climbs into the passenger seat and puts her seatbelt on. I pull my phone out my pocket and FaceTime Y/N and put it on the phone stand while it rings. I take the car out of park and start my drive back to the bakery. "Hey mama, what's up?" Y/N says once it finally connects. "Hi babe, we have a problem." "What's wrong? Hold on, let me put my AirPods on. I'm with Saweetie and Quavo." She says as I see her reach into her pocket.
Once her AirPods are on she signals for me to start talking. "I took Ashley to her appointment and she told me that she wanted to talk to me about something. She brings up her calling me mommy and asked if I was mad and I told her no. She told me that the kids at school told her that I'm not her real mother and that they make fun of her for you guys mother being dead." Her eyes widen and I see her start to gather her stuff up. "I'm on my way." "Babe, no. We are out. She said she told the teacher and she told her not to listen to them and that's it. Didn't say anything to the other students. Ash also said that they call her No Parent Ashley." I say. "Can she hear me?" I look at the camera to see her looking at me. I nod my head. "LeeLee, how long has this been happening?" "A month. I told the teacher the second day and that's when she said that to me." Ashley says.
Y/N sighs and wipes her face. "How come you didn't tell me or Dinah?" Y/N asks her. "I didn't want you guys to be mad at me." She lets out lowly. "Ashley we would never be mad at you for telling us that kind of stuff. You're supposed to tell us stuff like that." Y/N explains to her. "Sorry sissy." "Don't be sorry Leelee. I'm not mad at you." Y/N says. "I asked her if she wanted to change schools and she said yes." I tell her as i look at her once I get to a red light. "Oh that was happening regardless. I'm not going to let her go through that. We can go the school and talk to the principal. She's not going to that school. I'll look into other schools when I get to the office in an hour or so." She explains and I nod my head. "I told her the same thing. You okay now Ash?" I look over at her and she nods her head.
"What are you guys going to do?" "We have a few errands and then we're headed home. It's a Ashley and me day." I say as I turn in the parking lot of the bakery. "We're at one of the places. I'll call you later?" "I have a couple of meetings later. I'll see you when I get home." "Okay I love you." "Bye Y/N/N. I love you." Ashley says. "Bye Leelee. Bye babe. I love you guys too. Get home safe." She says before she hangs up.
"Are we getting a cake for Y/N for her birthday?" "Yes we are. And we are also getting a cake for yours too. Your birthday is coming up. We should have a party shouldn't we?" I say to her as I grab my sunglasses from the sunglasses holder. "Yes! We should have a big party with lots of balloons and candy! Can I have a puppy?" She says out of excitement. I laugh and awe a little while looking at her with her puppy dog eyes. "I would have to ask your sister if it's okay for you to have a dog. That's a lot of responsibility, you know that?" She nods her heads fast. "Yes I know. I help Mani with her dog when I go over there. I feed him. I pick up his poop and I walk him with Mani." She says and I nod my head. "I'm sure I can convince her to get it for you." I say. "But I want a cute dog. Y/N would get me a big ugly dog. I want a cute small one. Ooou I want a Frenchie. I want a girl though." I let out a laugh. "Come on. Let's go order these cakes and then we can go talk to the party planner for you and your sister's party." I say as i turn the car off, grab my purse and get out. I walk around to the passenger side and see that Ashley is already out of the car. I hit the button on the car keys and the car beeps letting me know that its locked. I grab Ashley's hand and we make our way to the bakery. Once we're in front of the door, I open the door and let Ashley walk through first and I walk in after her. I grab Ashley's hand again and I walk to the counter.
"Hi, I called earlier about talking to someone about having two cakes being made." I say to the last at the counter. "Dinah, right? Hi, I'm Jessica. We talked on the phone. You said you needed a cake for Saturday and one for the 14th of December as well, correct?" Jessica asks. "Yes. For the cake on Saturday, I'm looking for a larger cake and I was thinking of getting a picture on it." "You should put a picture of Y/N and the babies on it." Ashley says. "Do you have the picture with you?" Jessica asks. "I do give me a second." I reach into my purse and grab the little folder out and hand it to her. "This picture is so cute." "Can you guys ship cakes out?" I ask her. "We can do something like that. What were you thinking?" "This cake is for a family party and we're going to Jamaica for a trip for her birthday I was wondering if you can have it made for that?" "When do you leave?" "The fifth." "What we can do is have it ready on the fifth that morning and you can pick it up and we'll make sure it's in a box that will keep it cold." I nod my head thinking. "That can work too. Okay so the second cake for her will be a Kobe themed cake. The cake on the 14 will be a..." I drag the a out looking at Ashley. "Can I have a butterfly cake?" Ashley asks. I nod my head and she looks at Jessica.
"I want a butterfly cake. And I want it pink." She tells Jessica. "You want it shaped like a butterfly or do you want butterflies on it?" "On it." Ash says. "Can that be a three tier cake too?" I asked. "Yup and what flavors do you want for all three of them?" She says writing everything down. "The first two will be vanilla with buttercream frosting. Ash do you want a different flavor?" I say looking down at her. "Can I get vanilla too with strawberries in the middle?" Ashley asks. "Yes you can and did you want the same frosting?" "Yes actually can you make it look like this?" I say pulling out my phone looking for the picture I already had got the cake showing her. "Yes I can. Anything else I can get you guys?" Ashley pulls on my shirt and I look down at her as she points to the cookies through the glass cabinet. "Can I get two of those butterfly cookies that you have right there? Can I also put on an order for 75 of those for December 14th as well?" Jessica nods her head and heads to the register to ring everything in.
I grab Ashley's hand and walk to the register. I pull my wallet out and grab my card out of it. "Is there anything else that you would like?" She asks as she hands Ashley the cookies. "No I think that's all." She nods her head and starts to put everything in the system. "Your total today will be $1,672.35." Jessica says. I insert the chip of the card in the machine. "That's a lot of money." I hear Ashley whisper. Me and Jessica laugh. "Well we got three cakes and 77 cookies Ashley. It's going to cost a lot mamas." I say looking down at her wide eyes. I pull my card out of the machine and she hands me the receipt. "I'll keep in contact for pick up or if we have any problems. Thank you and have a good day." "Thank you and you too." "Thank you for making my cake." Ashley says and we walk out of the bakery.
We walk to the car and I open the back door for Ashley. "Can I sit in the front all day?" She asks. I nod my head and close the door and open the passenger door for her and help her in. I close the door and make my way to the drivers seat. I open the door and get in. My phone starts to ring and I look at the contact. Yana🤞🏼🥰. I answer it and put the phone on the stand as I start the car. "Did you get the cakes?" "I literally just walked out the bakery. The cakes are all set. I also got Ashley butterfly cookies for her party." "Okay good. I got Y/N's banner all set. When are you going to the party planner for Ashley?" She asks as she set up her phone on her phone stand in her car. "Well the appointment is at four. It's only 1:30 and I'm already in the area. I was just going to take Ashley out to eat. I have to go shopping for the kids and Ashley on Rodeo if you want to come." I say as I look from the road to Ashley.
"Use the napkins that's in the bag love. You got frosting all over your face. What do you want to eat?" I ask Ashley. "Can we go to Benihana?" She asks. "That's what you want?" "Ooouu I'll meet you guys there. It's just me. Analisa is still on house arrest." Ayana says as she drives. "Okay I'll meet you there." "Okay. I'll see you later Ashbash." Ayana says. "I'll see you later Yaya." She hangs up and I make my way towards Benihana. "Who's your favorite person Ash?" I ask her randomly. "Umm... you." She says. I stop at a red light and look over at you. "Why is that? Why not your sisters or Mani?" "Because I like being with you. And Mani doesn't hang out with me much. Yaya and Y/N are always out now. I love them but sometimes I hate being the younger sibling." She says.
"Why do you say that?" "Because they have more in common and they can do adult things. I'm always with the babies. Then I'm too young to do all the cool stuff. Like go karts, paintball, and on the big roller coasters. I'm tired of riding the teacups. They're boring. I have to act like I like it and I don't." Ashley says irritated. I look at her solemn face and try not to laugh. Like she's so serious right now. "You can do some adult things. How about me and you do a spa day after we talk to your principal. You can get a massage and your nails and feet done. Then we can go and get our hair done. I can have Y/N call Tae to see if he can come and do your hair." I say to her while paying attention to the road. "Can I get the cucumbers on my eyes like in the movies?" She asks. "You can get whatever you want." I say with a smile as I look over at her.
"Can Tae straighten my hair? I want my hair straightened. Yaya always sprays my face with water in the morning." She says. "I think he'll do it. Is there anything else you want besides a puppy for your birthday?" I ask her. "I want a necklace with my name on it and I want to go to Disney. I've never been there. Tía Sammie said she was taking me the day before my birthday. I want the necklace to have butterflies on it." She says. "Can I have a phone too?" She asks me. "I don't know baby. I would have to ask your sister." "Yaya would let me have a phone." She says. "I know she would. I'll talk to Y/N tonight about it." I say as I pull into the parking lot and see Ayana's car and park next to her.
"I thought you guys were going to take forever." Ayana says out her window when I pull up in the spot next to her. "Lunch is on you?" Ayana asks me and I laugh. "Nope it's on you." I say and she looks at me with wide eyes. "I guess we at the wrong spot. I guess we getting Wendy's. Everybody is getting a 4 for 4." She says and I bust out laughing. "Yes it's on me Yana. Now come on." I say as I turn off the car and grab my purse. I get out and so does Ashley. "Yaya, mommy got me butterfly cookies for my party. And I get a spa day tomorrow." Ashley says as she goes to hug her sister. "So she can skip school but I can't?" Ayana says as she hugs Ashley back. "It's a long story. I'll tell you when we get inside." "Heads up theres paps around here lurking." Ayana says. I put my sunglasses on. "Mommy I want some glasses." Ashley says. I go back in the car and grab my extra pair and give them to Ashley before I close and lock the door. Ayana locks hers and we head inside. Ashley grabs my hand and I hold it tight as we try to get through paparazzi.
"Damn, can y'all back up? You see we have a child with us. I know if something happens to my sister y'all ain't gonna like it." Ayana says. Once we get inside I look over at Ayana. "You're about to be all over TMZ." And she smiles. "I hope they got the message then. This isn't the first time they've done that to us. They bombarded us the last time we went to get ice cream. I had to take her to the hills just to eat the ice cream because their flashes kept blinding her through the window." She says as she looks at me. "Don't get me fooled, I got a pretty face, but just like Mani I got some Southern in me." She says. And I shake my head. I feel a tug on my hand and I look down at Ashley. "I'm hungry." "Okay baby we're about to get a table. Give me a second okay? Are you okay?" I ask her and she nods her head and the glasses fall down a bit. "Yeah. The glasses helped my eyes." I nod my head and fix them on top of her head and then I fix mine on my head.
"Hello Ms. Hansen, how can we help you today?" The host ask. "Can I get a private table for three?" I ask. I look over at Ayana and see her giving a stank look and I hit her thigh discreetly and she looks over at me. I give her a look and she rolls her eyes. "Give me one second and I'll see about that table." She says and I smile and nod as I watch her leave. "Puta." Yana mumbles. "Who is that?" "A girl from school. She wanted Anthony. She still thinks I want him to this day. She honestly needs to get over herself. He's not worth it. Especially since he's in jail." She says with a shrug.
"I hope you're not getting yourself involved with him." I say honestly. "I would never. I have Jack. Like I said before he just wanted his clout. I could see it in his eyes since the day I met him." She says as she shakes her head. "I just wish I never even tried or attempted anything with him." She says as her whole mood changes. The host come back and grabs a few menus. "You guys can follow me." She says with a smile. We follow her to the back with a private table with a chef already there. I help Ashley in her seat and then I take a seat next to her and Ayana sits down next to me. "Hi, my name is Jeremy and I'll be your waiter today. Can I start you guys off with drinks?" "Ashley do you want a Shirley temple like at the diner?" Ayana asks her and she nods her head. "Can I get two Shirley temples?" Ayana asks. He nods his head and writes it down. "A water is fine for me." I say. "I'll be right back with your drinks. The chef will take your meal orders when you guys are ready." And we all nod our heads.
"Here, Ashley how about you use my phone while I talk to your sister." "Okay. I want chicken and broccoli." She says as she grabs my phone that I hand to her. "So you talked to Anthony first?" I say as I face Ayana. She lets a deep sigh and nods her head. "I mean, yeah I thought he was cute and all but he wasn't my type. I lied to Y/N when I told her about my first relationship. I loved Amare. He was my first love. His family was in the streets so I knew he wasn't far from it either. But when we got together he wasn't. Once he was in it was like he changed into a whole new person. He cheated with a girl I thought was my best friend. After him I vowed to myself not to date somebody that was in that type of life because I didn't want to go through the same thing again. Anthony used to flash his gun in school and sell right in the parking lot. I didn't find that attractive so it made him unattractive. I told him I didn't want to deal with him. I told him the truth. That I only talked to him so Analisa could talk to Trey. He was cool with it. Then it's like once he seen me with Jack all that changed. Now I feel the need to apologize to Jack every time I talk to him because the first day we got together he had a gun pointed at him in his face over me." She says as slouches in her seat in the end.
"Hey, don't beat yourself over it. You couldn't control his actions. I bet Jack doesn't even blame you for what he did." I say. "He doesn't but I can't help but to blame myself for it. But let's stop talking about me. What's going on with Ashbash?" "She's being bullied in school." "For what? She's like the most stylish kid in her school. I make sure of it." She says as she looks confused. "She's being bullied about your mom. I guess she told kids in her class that I was her mom to stop teasing her but it didn't work. They were making fun of her having no parents. Saying that I'm not her real mom and the call her 'No Parent Ashley'. She told her teacher and she did nothing. Me and your sister are going down there tomorrow and talking to the principal and pulling her from the school." "You found this all out today?" She asks me and I nod my head.
"She told me after her therapy session. Speaking of which, can you or Sammie bring her to her appointment next Friday?" I ask her. "Yeah I can bring her. Back to this bullying situation, are you going to sue or something? Because bullying is illegal now." Ayana asks. I shake my head. "I'm not putting a little kid in jail especially an 7 or 8 years old. Your sister might want to, but I'm not going to let her. Jail is the last thing I'm worried about. I'm just worried about confronting the situation and dealing with it. There's no need to go that far." "They lucky I'm not going. I would've made sure. Ashley is like my child. No offense to anyone, but I helped raise her. That's my daughter. I don't play about her. Y/N just met her like what three years ago, but I was there when my mothers water broke. I was helping out with her since birth. That's my kid as much as my mothers." Ayana says as the waiter brings us our drinks.
"Can i take your order so the chef can start making it?" Jeremy asks. "I'm going to do one kids chicken and broccoli and a beef and broccoli myself." I say. "I'll do the teriyaki steak." Ayana says. "Okay the chef will be right on out." Jeremy says. We nod our heads and I look over at Ashley and see her paying attention to my phone. "I would never deny that. I see it Ayana. Im just worried about getting her out of the situation. That's my main goal. As long as she's out, that's all I'm worried about. You know bullying is a sensitive topic for both me and your sister. I don't like it either, but at the end of the day, I love Ashley and as long as I can get her out of the situation I'm not worried about all of that. The case with Odell is already enough for us. We wouldn't want Ashley to take a stand. That's a lot of pressure itself. The constant court dates, therapy sessions, and questioning is a lot for one person." She nods her head and sips her drink. "I understand. Just get her out of it." "We will don't worry." I say.
"How is the case going?" She asks me. "It's going. The court date for it starts on the 5th of January. That's why I have to go to therapy. Plus Yonni has been trying to get everything together without having to talk to me. I have to meet up with her before we leave for Jamaica." I say and she nods her head. "Kalia has nightmares." She blurts "What?" "Kalia has nightmares. She screams in her sleep sometimes. I go in the room and I wake her up and bring her to my room. She does it in there as well. She'll start yelling first and then she starts screaming. I'll wake her up and hold her till she sleeps and then put her back in her room. Kaleo also rubs his body in his sleep. He'll rub his leg and his arm in his sleep. I never told you because I thought you knew." She says. "When did this start happening?" I ask her. "Two weeks ago. I was walking to get water and I heard her. Sometimes I'd make her warm milk or we'd sit outside by the pool. We'd sit on the edge and let our feet hang in the water and I'll hold her there until she sleeps. She'd yell 'stop hurting mommy.' Or 'your hurting her.' I think Kalia seen more than Kaleo. You probably thought she was sleep and she was watching from a crack in the door or wherever." Ayana says.
I let out a deep breath. "Dinah, I know you probably think less of yourself now, but don't. Its not your fault-" "Everyone keeps saying that and I feel like it's nobody's fault but my own. I could've prevented that. I could've prevented everything from happening to them and what they saw or heard." "Going into that relationship you didn't know that he was going to do that to you. My mom went through the same thing with my dad for years. It took for him almost putting his hands on Ashley for her to leave. My mom did things from kicking Y/N and myself out, not talking to her family to forcefully carrying a child for a man that didn't give two fucks about her or the kids he created. Just his damn son. And look at both of them. In jail. It takes a lot for a woman or any person at that to leave a relationship that's so severe like that. You got out in time. Don't let that hold you back from everything you deserve. Fuck what everyone is saying about you. None of them have the guts to say that to your face. You did what you thought was right. You loved a person so much you dealt with their bs. You just got tired of being their physical punching bag. I give you all your props. You could've said no to all the help you was getting but you wanted different. You're not a bad parent. You've shown your son that it's not okay to put his hands on women. You've shown your daughter to never let a man put his hands on you. They learned all that just from you leaving him. Don't let outsiders influence your thoughts about yourself." Ayana says. "That's a message brought to Ayana Adriana." She says and I let out a chuckle.
"You're right." "Oh I know I am. I might make mistakes but we're all human. You made a mistake by staying with him but you learned your lesson. You listening to them would be like me listening to everybody telling me to not date a white boy. Let me tell you, this white boy has yet to disappoint me." She says and I laugh. "Who told you not to?" "Tia Sammie. She says it all the time. 'I can't believe you're dating un gringo.' Like girl bye, el gringo makes me happy. He checks me when needed. Plus he's so sweet and caring. Lord does that man know how to dress. I thought I was going to have to dress him myself." She says and I laugh. "I can see he's treating you well." "He is. We talk everyday. He listens when I rant or tell him about my day. He doesn't pressure me to do anything. He's so sweet. Like the other day, he sent me flowers to the studio. I didn't tell him about the studio room or nothing." She says.
"Awe, that's so sweet. How's the music coming along?" "It's coming along good. I think I have an album ready. I have one song left to work on. It would be an album with no features on it." She says. "Oh so you're skipping the whole EP?" I ask her. "I mean I wrote enough songs for an album, but it's up to Y/N honestly. She's the one that's going to be doing all that other stuff." She says. Her phone rings and she smiles widely. "Jack?" And nods her head answering it. "Hi babe." "Hey babe. Who got you smiling like that?" He says. "Boy, you know it's only you. How are you? Did you eat today?" She asks him. "I actually just ate. I'm about to head back in the booth soon so I figured I'd give you a call before I do. You eat though?" He asks. "I'm out to eat with Ash and Dinah right now. We're about to head out after to go to the planner for Ashley's party. You're coming right?" She asks. "Of course I am. Where's Ashbash and Dinah at?" He asks and she points the camera to the both of us. "Hi Jack." I say. I feel Ashley hop on my lap and smile at the camera. "Hi Jack." She says with a big smile. "Hi Ashbash. You're birthday is coming up." "Yeah it is. I'm having a party are you coming?" She asks. "How could I miss your party? It's the party of the year. Everybody is talking about it. What's the theme?" "I didn't tell anybody about it and it's butterflies." "Well it's the talk of the town. Maybe everyone just knew you were having a party. Do I have to wear butterfly wings to it?" Ashley laughs and shakes her head. "No you don't. I want to." She says. "Okay okay. They have to be big like the butterflies though. You'd look nice with some pink wings though. Like a light pink that goes dark." He tells her.
She smiles big. "I want some like that. Can I get some?" She says as she looks at me and I nod my head. "Okay well me and your sister are going to talk about what we're going to get you. But you can't hear about it or it will ruin the surprise." He says with a smile. "Okay, I'll go back to playing my game." "Okay, I'll talk to you later Ashbash." "Bye Jack Jack." She says as she gets off my lap and goes back to the phone. "Not you stealing my nickname for her." Ayana says and I laugh. "She likes it when I call her that. Babe, I'll talk to you later though. I have to get back in the booth. I'll see you tomorrow." "Okay. Bye baby." "Bye mamacita." He says as he hangs up. "I see he won Ashley over." And she nods her head. "They'd talk everyday when I pick her up from school. She loves him." "Do you love him?" I ask her. "Would it be too soon if I said I did?" She asks. "No. I knew I loved your sister a week after we started hanging out. Love works in weird ways I'm telling you." The chef comes to the table with a cart full of food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what colors do you want for the party?" The party planner, Alexa, asks. "Light pink and white. But you can put a dark shade of pink too." Ashley says. "And you said that you wanted butterflies?" Alexa asks. "Yeah." "Is there anything that specific that you guys want for it? Like ball pits or anything?" "We can do a ball pit. We have a pool at the house so like the balloon arches will work too. A face painter as well. A bounce house, candy table, and cute goodie bags for the kids." I say. "What about a butterfly creating activity table?" Alexa asks. "Yeah! I want to create my own butterfly. Can I have a petting zoo?" "I can look into that. How about Dinah I'll send you a bunch of activities through email later?" I nod my head. "Anything else that you want Ashley?" "Can I get a butterfly crown?" "Yup, I can get that. Anything else?" "I can't think of anything else. I just want lots of balloons." Ashley says.
"Lots of balloons... got it. Did you already get the cake and little snacks?" Alexa asks looking at me. "We already ordered the cake. I also got butterfly cookies." She nods her head as she writes it down. "I'll get everything else like cupcakes, cake pops, pretzel sticks, and such. I kind of got the gist of everything that you want. I'll start to look into everything and send pictures of everything. You gave me the guest list so I'll start getting those printed and sent out." She says and I nod my head. "If you can think of anything else that you guys would want don't hesitate to send me a text or give me a call." I nod my head as we both stand up. "I will." I shake her hand and smile. "Thank you for planning my party Ms. Alexa." "She's so respectful. You're welcome beautiful. It's going to be the best party." "I hope so." "It will be." Alexa says.
We walk out of the office and to the car. Once we're in I start the car. "Clothes shopping or grocery shopping?" I ask Ashley and my phone dings. I check the notification and see Y/N is on live. I click on it and her voice starts to come through my speakers. "Yooo Quavo you did not have to do him dirty like that." She says as she laughs as she tries to roll a blunt. "I did though. You seen how he was checking her out? I bet if it was Dinah you would've said something." "You damn right! But I ain't going to be mad if he's looking. As long as he doesn't touch. I'd probably boost his ego by telling him to talk to her or something." Quavo laughs. "You talking about me doing someone dirty. Just for you to turn around and cuss him out afterwards." "Yeah because I feel like at that point you should sense that it's a set up." She says and I shake my head. "Hey baby." She says to the camera and I hit the wave button. "Join the live." She says.
I request to join her live and she automatically accepts. "Hi my love." She says with a smile. "Girl come get your girlfriend. She is being hella annoying." I hear Saweetie in the background. I laugh and shake my head. "I thought you were going to the office?" I say. "See I was, but then I got a call saying I didn't have to be in those meetings. I'm still going to go to deal with that situation from earlier though. You look good though. Looking gorgeous as ever." She says. "Thank you." "What are you about to get into?" "Clothes shopping for the kids and for our trip. Then I have to go grocery shopping." "Yeah and she said I can pick the ice cream out this time. You get all the nasty ice cream." Ashley says. "Oh really Leelee? Caramel isn't nasty." "Yes it is. Strawberry cheesecake is better. So is Oreo." Ashley says. "She got you there. Strawberry cheesecake is where it's at." Saweetie says. "Hi Saweetie." Ashley says. "Hi icy girl." "Geesh you're not going to say hi to me?" Quavo asks.
"I don't know your name, but hi." Ashley says. Saweetie and Y/N bust out laughing and her comment section is going up fast with laughing emojis. "You don't know my name?" Quavo says as he gets in the camera. "Oh, hi Qua Qua." She says with a big smile. "Okay then Qua Qua." Y/N says laughing. "What's up little bit?" He asks her. "How was your day?" "It's good. I got my cake for my party and I talked to the party planner. Are you coming to my birthday party?" She asks him. "Yeah little bit. It's the party of the year. It's going to be better than your sisters. She's just going to Jamaica. Yours is in the backyard and I heard you got someone performing." He says. "Really?!? Is it Kehlani?" She asks. "You want Kehlani? You don't want Qua Qua?" He asks her.
"No offense Qua Qua, but you have too many swears in your songs." Ashley says and Y/N and Saweetie start laughing. "Yo your sister is wild. I never met a little girl respectfully disrespect someone like that. But I respect your decision little bit. You're right I do swear a lot." He says. "She's been getting so many comments on how respectful she is today. From Kiara to the party planner." I say. "That's what happens when you live Aunt Drea. You're respectful as hell. Look at Mani." Y/N says. "Babe?" "Yes?" "You look beautiful today. You look beautiful today too Leelee." "Thank you sissy." "Thank you baby." She smiles. 'Dinah made Y/N turn into a simp.' 'Single Y/N was better.' Were some of the comments that I seen. "What was single Y/N doing that was better?" I ask and Y/N looked at me confused. "Comments." "'She was always around big booty women.' I was not. I was with my damn kids. Don't have me out here looking like a hoe." She says as she reads the comments. "She was still a simp single. She was scrolling through Dinah's Instagram and checking her story. Checking for someone that wasn't even checking for you." Quavo says.
"You starting to sound like Chris with your hating ass. How you hating and you have a shorty?" She says. "It's okay that you were checking. It's cute." I say just to tease her. "First off, I was only checking when you wasn't talking to me. You had me blocked. I was using my fake account." She says and I laugh. "You have a fake account?" I ask her. "Yes I did. I'm not ashamed of it because it's deleted now." "Why is it deleted?" I ask her. "Because you unblocked me. Duh." She says as if it was obvious. "That's energy. I know that's right." Saweetie says. "I'm going to let you go though because I know you have to go shopping. I'll see you at the house. I love you." "I love you too babe." "Bye Leelee. I love you too." "Bye sissy. I love you too. Bye Saweetie." She says as she waves at the camera. "Bye icy girl." "You're gonna forget about me again?" Quavo says. "Yeah say bye to Qua Qua." Y/N says laughing. "Bye Qua Qua." Ashley says. "Bye everybody." I say as I exit out the live. I pull into a parking spot and park the car. "Okay Ashley, I know you don't like paparazzi, but there's a lot of them out on in this neighborhood. You can wear the glasses, but you have to make sure you hold my hand." She nods her head. "Okay mommy." She says as she puts her glasses on. I put my glasses on and turn the car off and get out. I walk over to Ashley's side and help her out and grab my purse.
@dinahjane97
1,306,793 likes
@dinahjane97: I think my glasses look better on her. What do you guys think?
@RealAyana: 🥰🥰🥰 my spicy little baby
@OfficialY/N: My sister is killing the game better than half of you women.
@Normani: 😍😍😍 Leelee 🥰🥰🥰
@Saweetie: I need to start taking how to dress classes from her😍 she's killing it.
@Objislyfe: why would you put a kid in a jumpsuit. Let her act her age.
———> @RealAyana: Why would you get your bangs cut like Dora the Explorer? Act your age. 🖕🏽
————>@OfficialY/N: Why would you try and pick on a 7 year old? You too old to be doing that. You look like DC Youngfly's long lost sister. Don't come for my sister. She got more hair on her head than you.
@Kehlani: she's sooooo pretty.
@Nickiminaj: she is gorgeous😍😍😍 I'm going to have to copy that look.
@theshaderoom
934,462 likes
@theshaderoom: #FamilyAffairs the Y/L/N sisters are all gorgeous. We're definitely jealous.
@iamcardib: the whole family is good looking 😍
@jaydacheaves: you can tell that serving face runs in the family. Look at all of them. Especially Ashley😍😍😍🥰
@summerwalker: Ashley stay killing them with the outfits tho😮💨😍🥰
@kimkardashian: they are all so beautiful 😍😍🥰
@khadi: Ashley is definitely Y/N's twin. You can see it all in the eyes
@RealAyana
856,729 likes
@RealAyana: The first and last pictures are my mood when my man calls 🤪😍
@Ananotlisa: twin you look so good😍😍
@arroganttae: My baby is in love.
@therealkylesister: So pretty
@jackharlow: He's a very special man.
———->@RealAyana: @jackharlow yes you are🤪🥰
@ayanafanpage: You look more like @Saweetie more than looking like your sister
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walk in carrying a sleeping Ashley, my purse, and my keys. I drop my keys on the side table. I hear footsteps coming towards me and I see Sammie. "Hi Sammie." "Hola linda, She's had a long day?" She asks coming closer taking her from my arms. "Yeah, I took her to her therapy session and then she wanted to hang out with me the rest of the day, so we've been running around getting things ready for the parties. She fell asleep on the way here. How were the kids?" I ask. "Tu hijos están bueno. They were good. Kalia helped out a lot today. She was cleaning and everything. Cheylise was doing her homework packet with Ana. Leo was himself. He was outside all day. I gave him a bath and he's sleep." She says.
"Can you or Ayana take Ashley to her appointment on next Friday? We're going to be away and I told Ayana but I have a feeling she's going to forget." "Yeah I can take her. Are the kids staying here?" "Y/N didnt ask you if you could? She had one job." I say as I let out a deep breath. "What job did I have? Didn't I tell you to park in the garage?" "I was bringing Ashley in the house. As you can see she's sleep, and I was going to so I can get the bags out of the car." I say. She grabs the keys off the side table. "Are they in the trunk?" She asks and I nod my head. She kisses my cheek and goes to kiss her aunt's cheek and kisses Ashley's forehead. She leaves out the front door.
"Ashley is going to be staying home from school for a couple of days. Is it okay if she stays with you? She told me today that she gets bullied at school about her mom. We're going to talk to the principle when they go back to school. So we're going to keep her home until we can hopefully find another school." "Her mother? Ay Dios mío. I can watch her. I can watch the kids too." "I know Nicki wants to take Kalia that weekend. Leo is going with my parents for my brothers game. I don't think Chey goes to her mothers house next weekend." I say.
"I thought she was going with you guys?" She asks me. "No. We decided with everything going on it's best if she doesn't go." "Oh okay. I'm going to put nena to bed." She says as she turns around and walks away. Y/N comes in with the bags and I close and lock the door behind her. We walk into the living room. She sets them down on the floor and sits on the couch. "Are you going to put them away or are you doing that tomorrow?" She asks me. "How do you guys have so many bags?" "Ashley and I were carrying some. She carried hers and the kids stuff and I carried mine. Oh I bought you some swim trunks." I tell her as I sit next to her. She pulls me closer to her and kisses the side of my head. "You know, you killing this mother thing. I mean you always have don't get me wrong, but I see and hear all the stuff you're doing for my sisters. You the shit mama." She says. I look at her. "You think so?" "I know so. That's why I got a surprise coming for you." She says. "Babe your birthday is coming up." "Okay? So is Christmas. I have a lot coming for you for Christmas. You deserve it." She says.
"I still haven't finished getting your birthday gifts." "Well you can't bring my aunt out here. She's already here." She says and we laugh. "Well Jamaica is one of them. I paid for it. I would get you a car but you have two. You don't need another one." "You know what I need? Some shoes." "No you don't. You have enough. Majority of your sneakers take up most of the closet." She looks at me with an eyebrow raised. "Girl your heels take up majority of the space in the closet. You can get me a backpack or something though. I'm tired of carrying all my stuff in my pockets." "I'll think about it. Ashley says she wants a dog." I tell her. "Yeah she can get one. I'll get her a pit bull." I shake my head. "She told me you'd pick something like that. She said she wants something small and cute. Like a frenchie." I say.
"What like the one Megan has? Why does she want one of those? I can ask Megan where she got hers if that's what she wants. Nothing else?" She asks. "A necklace with her name on it." I say. "I think Quavo is getting her that. He told me so I didn't get it. She's about to be all set on jewelry. Someone else is getting her a tennis bracelet. I can't remember who." She says. "Is everything all set for both parties? Especially tomorrow?" She asks. "Yeah. People will be here at 1pm tomorrow to start setting up. You wanted a cookout theme right?" She nods her head. "Why cookout?" "Living in Boston I couldn't have a cookout for my birthday. It was either too cold or it started snowing. When we moved out of Boston, they stopped having parties for my birthday because they couldn't pay for all three parties and Christmas was around the corner. Plus I have everyone I want around me now." She lifts my chin with her fingers to make me look up at her. "You love me huh?" She asks. I peck her lips. "Forever and always." I say.
"Do you have an outfit already?" "Yeah. It's something light. Do you have an outfit?" She asks me. "I got a little something." I say. "Is it going to get you in trouble? Because I would hate to have to hurt men the day of my party. You know I would too." She says looking at me with a serious face. I let out a giggle and shake my head. "I promise you that I don't think anybody would want to be trying anything with me after you did Odell like that. I rarely get dms anymore." "Is it tight?" She asks. "You just have to wait and see my love."